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Updated: 5:43 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020 Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is shaking up the city’s health department after an internal probe found supervisors made “detrimental mistakes” and treated staff unfairly, the mayor’s office announced Tuesday. As part of the overhaul, Health Director Merle Gordon has been reassigned to a new job overseeing population health initiatives. Brian Kimball, the city’s environment commissioner, will run the daily operations of the department, which is at the forefront of Cleveland’s coronavirus response.

For many kids, going to school this year means an unusually short trip: from the bedroom to the living room. But for kids without internet or a computer at home, remote learning isn’t that simple. Now, several area organizations have come up with a solution.

With about two and half months left for people to return census forms, Cleveland has the lowest response rate among the nation’s largest cities. Currently, just under 47 percent of city residents have completed their forms, putting Cleveland at 68th out of 68 cities with a population of 300,000 or more.

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the state and in Northeast Ohio, local hospitals have space to handle the expected increase in new patients, officials said. The Ohio Department of Health divides the state into eight regions for data collection. Northeast Ohio is region 2, which includes, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, and Geauga counties.

Former Vice President Joe Biden touched down in Cleveland Monday afternoon for a drive-in rally at Burke Lakefront Airport. Biden spoke for almost 30 minutes from an airplane hangar at the Downtown airport before heading to Pennsylvania, where he planned to close out his pre-Election Day campaign swing. “Ohio, one more day, one more day,” Biden told supporters who honked car horns as he spoke. “Tomorrow, tomorrow we have an opportunity to put an end to a presidency that has divided this nation.”

The most controversial issue in Ohio’s 18th District State Senate race isn’t anything that’s on the ballot. Ohio House Bill 6 – the bill meant to bail out the state’s nuclear power plants – is not only tied to a $60 million bribery scandal involving former House Speaker Larry Householder. It also could impact Lake County voters more than others in the state, as a repeal could shut down the Perry Nuclear Power Plant. That make HB6 and its potential repeal a major issue in the race between Republican candidate Jerry Cirino and Democratic candidate Betsy Rader.

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has already received a surge of absentee ballot applications for the Nov. 3 election, as more voters than usual move to make their decisions remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. As of last week, the board had processed 40,000 ballot applications, Director Anthony Perlatti told ideastream Monday.

Gov. Mike DeWine has said the state will soon require schools to regularly report positive COVID-19 cases to the public. But the move has local infectious disease experts concerned about patient privacy. Drs. Amy Ray at MetroHealth and Joan Zoltanski at University Hospitals agree that schools should be transparent about numbers of new cases in order to keep the public informed – but should take care not to give any information that could identify individuals.

While many concerts and gigs were canceled this year, musicians still need working instruments. And repair work is keeping J.C. Sherman in business. “As I work principally with antiques and specialized professional instruments and customizations, I was more insulated, I think, than some from COVID-19,” Sherman said. When COVID-19 hit, I found myself in a unique position.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s administration hopes to improve housing conditions by placing outreach workers with nonprofits across the city. The $1 million program would fund 14 “engagement specialist” positions with community development corporations, the nonprofit groups that help with neighborhood planning and other local work. The engagement specialists would send letters to property owners and work with homeowners and landlords to fix up housing in need of repair. Cleveland would spend another $500,000 to pay residents back for repainting home exteriors.