Nick Castele
Reporting on your government for Signal Cleveland.
Read the news: signalcleveland.org.
Make the news: nick@signalcleveland.org.
- A receiver has officially taken the reins of East Cleveland's troubled finances. Mayor says she met with the receiver today and will be handing over documents. signalcleveland.org/east-clevela...
- Play-by-play from @frankwlewis.bsky.social on how Cleveland City Council passed Tanisha's Law, creating a new Bureau of Crisis Response: signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ci...
- A first look at Mayor @justinmbibb.bsky.social's 2026 budget proposal. Cleveland City Hall is bracing for tighter times after many workers received raises. Plus, the city is trying out a new way of using leftover cash to finance capital projects (streets, rec center repairs, etc.)
- Bibb admin says Cleveland's community development corporation world is "at its weakest point in a generation." City Hall is seeking a consultant to chart a new path for neighborhood CDCs. signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ne...
- No more rebates for landlords who comply with Cleveland's lead paint ordinance as Biden-era COVID-19 dollars run dry. signalcleveland.org/program-to-p...
- Sunny Simon, an original member of Cuyahoga County Council, is running for the domestic relations judicial seat vacated by Leslie Ann Celebrezze. Plus, council’s Martin J. Sweeney has two primary challengers. signalcleveland.org/cuyahoga-cou...
- A post-election campaign finance filing shed some more light on the nonprofit that bought TV ad time backing the CMSD school consolidation plan. Mayor Bibb gave $100,000 to the group from his campaign funds in December, the filing shows. signalcleveland.org/cleveland-sc...
- The TL;DR of building on the Burke Lakefront Airport landfill: "It’s not impossible, but it is complex." signalcleveland.org/cleveland-bu...
- Back at work at @signalcleveland.bsky.social after some time off with the family and new baby. Everyone is well. Let me know what news I should be following this year.
- Supporters of Cleveland's school merger plan formed a 501(c)4 advocacy nonprofit after the November election, which paid for a TV ad narrated by Mayor Justin Bibb ahead of the Dec. 6 school board vote. signalcleveland.org/cleveland-sc...
- In a 13-2 vote, @clecitycouncil.bsky.social passes the $100 million settlement withdrawing Cleveland's legal objections to the Browns' move to Brook Park. signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ci...
- Dennis Kucinich at the @clecitycouncil.bsky.social table opposing the proposed settlement with the Browns. He calls the city’s lawsuit over the Brook Park move a “wet noodle.” “Reject this legislation. Demand that the administration fight to keep the Browns.”
- No change after today's recount. Tanmay Shah has defeated incumbent Danny Kelly for the Cleveland City Council Ward 12 seat by just 9 votes.
- Cleveland’s $100 million exit deal with the Browns is hardly a clean break. The settlement has the city and the Haslams working together for years to come. Our guide to what’s in the agreement: signalcleveland.org/cleveland-br...
- Tanmay Shah wins in Cleveland City Council Ward 12, besting incumbent Danny Kelly by 9 votes. There will be a recount Dec. 1, but it would be unlikely that it changes the results. signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ci...
- At yesterday's hearing on the $100 million settlement with the Browns, Cleveland City Council weighed whether to take the deal or...die in an alley (?!). signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ci...
- Kerry McCormack, who recently left Cleveland City Council for Flock, says he wasn't involved in the city's proposed contract with the company. He'll stay away from working with Cleveland for a year, he says. signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ci...
- The mayor's administration and prominent supporters of CMSD's school merger plan have been taking the public comment microphone at board meetings to make their case: signalcleveland.org/mayor-justin...
- A call with possible 2028 contender JB Pritzker, a Zoom meeting with the commissioner of Major League Soccer, meetings with investors & business executives in San Francisco, Toronto and New York. What's on Mayor Justin Bibb's newly released calendars: signalcleveland.org/mayor-justin...
- One theme that emerged from this round of Cleveland elections: candidates are talking more about affordability. signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ca...
- Ohio is floating two restructuring/bankruptcy consultants as possible receivers for financially strapped East Cleveland. signalcleveland.org/east-clevela...
- The election over, another campaign begins: Bibb’s push to win public support for CMSD’s school mergers. Council’s Mike Polensek sounds ready to go to the mat (again) for Collinwood High School.
- More news tonight: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a petition tonight to appoint a receiver over East Cleveland's finances. AG suggests restructuring consultants as possible receivers. Background: signalcleveland.org/ohio-auditor...
- Cleveland Metropolitan School District announces plans to merge 39 schools. Follow our coverage here:
- Update in Cleveland Ward 12, where Tanmay Shah leads Danny Kelly by 7 votes. There are 29 provisional ballots and appear to be 56 outstanding vote-by-mail ballots. Depends on how many provisionals are valid and how many VBM arrive on time, but this race could go either way.
- Artificial intelligence can't do it, but we can: An on-the-ground recap of Election Night in Cleveland: the incumbent battles and a possible City Council upset, from Collinwood to the Near West Side. signalcleveland.org/cleveland-el...
- Turnout as of 9:25 this morning. In Cleveland, it's at 7%. Ignore the East/West division, it hasn't been updated to reflect the new redistricted numbers. (Wards 7, 12 and 4 are West Side, Ward 3 is East Side.)
- In Cleveland this morning, Gov. Mike DeWine and Mayor Justin Bibb say they've been zeroing in on repeat perpetrators of violent crime — and that calling in the National Guard isn't necessary. signalcleveland.org/cleveland-vi...
- Heading into Election Day, here are the most expensive contested Cleveland City Council races: Ward 5 (Starr v. Maurer): $188k spent between the two Ward 7 (Davis v. Faraj): $107k Ward 10 (Hairston v. Polensek): $91k Ward 12 (Shah v. Kelly): $90k signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ci...
- Four years ago, candidate Justin Bibb proposed using money from smart parking meters for public transit. Now that he's mayor and Cleveland has its new parking meters, the idea has morphed. From Weekly Chatter: signalcleveland.org/bibb-campaig...
- Big news in Cleveland coming this week, and it's not Tuesday's election results. Cleveland Metropolitan School District is expected to announce its recommendations for school closures Wednesday. signalcleveland.org/cmsd-to-anno...
- Here's your election eve Cleveland City Council candidate spending leaderboard. The Ward 5 race is the most expensive in the city, with both Rebecca Maurer and Richard Starr spending close to $100k each. More from Weekly Chatter: signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ci...
- Scenes from the Cleveland campaign trail with Laverne Gore, who is running against a mayor she refers to as "the toddler." signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ma...
- A bit of news in our election-eve look at Bibb 2025. Mayor indicates he’s moving closer toward shaking up the police oversight system created by Issue 24: “It’s really about how do we make sure all of these regulatory bodies can work more seamlessly.” signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ma...
- Primer on one Cleveland race to watch on Election Night: the contest for housing court between Judge W. Moná Scott and challenger Cheryl Wiltshire. signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ho...
- A quick look at the spending and fundraising from the Council Leadership Fund, the Cleveland City Council president’s PAC: $115,000 spent since mid-year, with about $230,000 on hand for the final push before Election Day. signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ci...
- Elected 48 years ago, Mike Polensek says he’ll go if voters pick colleague Anthony Hairston over him in the Ward 10 Cleveland City Council race: “If that’s their decision, on Jan. 6, there won’t be an insurrection, OK?” signalcleveland.org/cleveland-ci...
- This walk through Detroit-Shoreway/Gordon Square is great. Captures a view of the neighborhood besides the usual sights: signalcleveland.org/cleveland-go...
- Two Cokes, “fleas” (!) and $100 million: recap from yesterday’s afternoon of Browns news at Cleveland City Hall: signalcleveland.org/cleveland-br...
- Cleveland Metroparks and NOACA have reworked their diversity, equity and inclusion policies and other documents to conform to the Trump administration's push against DEI. From Signal Cleveland's Weekly Chatter newsletter: signalcleveland.org/cleveland-me...
- Check out Cleveland's Municipal Court candidates right here: signalcleveland.org/cleveland-mu...
- After 30 years of fiscal emergency — and five weeks before a mayoral election — the Ohio auditor moves to place a receiver over East Cleveland's finances. Faber: "The time is now to stop kicking the can down the road." signalcleveland.org/ohio-auditor...
- Signal Cleveland opened shop almost three years ago to bring a new perspective and more reporting power to Cleveland’s news scene. Help us keep the work going by giving here: signalcleveland.org?form=fall202...
- A year ago, the Cuyahoga Land Bank announced a splashy new project in East Cleveland: a $12 million, 100-job biotech lab. The deal was slated to close in the fall of 2024. But it didn't. A closer look at a big promise to a city in trouble:
- Prominent Dems pitch their vision for the party under Trump 2 at the weekend’s mayors summit in Cleveland. Andy Beshear: "Get back to talking like normal human beings." Sherrod Brown: Workers "overwhelmingly" feel "the system was rigged against them." signalcleveland.org/democratic-m...
- Cuyahoga County has spent or dedicated $81 million from its settlements with drug companies over the opioid crisis. Details on how the money has been spent so far: signalcleveland.org/how-cuyahoga...
- Cuyahoga County plans to close its jail diversion center once a new county behavioral health center opens next year. County says new center will accept diversions and do much more. signalcleveland.org/cuyahoga-cou...
- We found around 250 unclaimed payments due to the City of Cleveland in the pool of money state lawmakers are tapping to help finance the new Browns stadium. City says it routinely tries to get unclaimed funds and is working on landing $138,000 now. signalcleveland.org/city-of-clev...
