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With Ohio schools closed, districts are starting to give out free packaged meals to kids. The Cleveland Metropolitan School District opened 22 food centers throughout the district for children under 18 to receive two packaged meals. Staff members handed out 4,900 meal packages of breakfast and lunch over the first two days. CEO Eric Gordon said they are prepared to distribute many more.

A demonstration Monday planned by Cleveland’s police officers’ union was met with backlash from the city’s black officers’ group. The Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association invited officers to show solidarity for one minute at noon by flashing the blue lights on their cruisers, saluting the flag or standing with their hands over their hearts. The union said it was meant to show solidarity for those on the front lines “suffering from the devastation being caused to our community and our law enforcement families.”

During his visit to Cleveland today, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson toured a temporary housing center on the east side. He said his department prefers to back programs helping people support themselves. “That’s our major focus now at HUD, on the people themselves as opposed to the programs and the houses,” said Carson.

The Cleveland police department Thursday introduced 15 new positions on the force that it calls CEOs. Three Community Engagement Officers will be assigned to each district. Chief Calvin Williams says the officers will get to know the community down at the street level.

An algae bloom was identified in Lake Erie’s central basin this week, causing increased testing and increased caution at Cleveland’s beaches. Toxin concentrations were high only one day last week. On Friday, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District detected a concentration of 10ppb (parts per billion) at Edgewater Beach. Ohio’s recreational threshold is 6ppb. Tests from the sewer district every day since then have shown low levels.

It might be the last year Maria’s Field of Hope, a field of sunflowers off the highway in Avon, blooms in its current location. The Prayers From Maria Foundation planted the flowers in honor of 7-year-old Maria McNamara, who died in 2007 from a cancerous brain tumor. The field is already in bloom this year, earlier than usual, and it continues to be a destination for thousands to visit and learn about its message.

Once the traditional holidays of Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over, some Americans look forward to another tradition: the annual Christmas Bird Count. Since 1900 birders have picked one day — sometime around Christmas — to survey as many birds as they can find in a 15 mile diameter circle. Birder Mike Edgerton, a member of the Greater Akron Audubon Society, says it’s been a valuable form of crowd sourcing.

A new report from Georgetown University shows the number of kids in the U.S. without health insurance has increased for the first time in more than a decade. Ohio is one of several states with a “statistically significant” increase in the number of uninsured children. The report says 21,000 Ohio kids lost coverage in 2017 compared to 2016, totaling 125,000 uninsured children in the state.

In the wake of recent allegations of sexual misconduct in classical music settings near and far, Oberlin Conservatory of Music is taking specific steps to change the culture. The conservatory's actions are part of Oberlin College's school-wide focus on the issue.

Ohio’s Congressional delegation will remain dominated by 12 Republicans with 4 Democrats. One district where Democrats thought they had a chance to turn the district blue remained with the incumbent. In the 14th District covering the northeast corner of the state, Republican incumbent Dave Joyce won by 11 percentage points. He delivered a short victory statement via Twitter, thanking his supporters.