Before approving a $3 million design and construction contract, Cuyahoga County Council members want assurances that a new centralized booking facility at the Justice Center in Downtown Cleveland would be used by Cleveland Municipal Court. “Is this a ‘if we build it, they will come,’ or is it ‘if we build it, they might come?’” asked Michael Gallagher, chairman of Cuyahoga County Council’s public safety committee, during a meeting Tuesday. Council members criticized county officials for seeking to move ahead without addressing the court’s concerns.

Stark County election officials are defending their recommendation to purchase new voting machines from Dominion Voting Systems, the company targeted by false claims of voter fraud and election interference in late 2020. County commissioners received an unprecedented number of calls and emails criticizing the choice, Commissioner Bill Smith said. “This response from the public has far exceeded the response any of us has ever received on any topic to come before our board,” Smith said.

Cleveland's health commissioner Persis Sosiak is stepping down, and her last day will be Friday. She was the commissioner of the division of health for four years, which included work on the city’s COVID-19 response. No reason was given for her resignation and requests for information have not yet been returned.

For nearly 15 years, a cigarette tax has supported many arts and cultural activities in Cuyahoga County. That tax revenue has steadily dwindled, prompting a search for a greater source of money.

The Akron Public School district along with other school districts in Summit County are scheduled to receive the COVID-19 vaccine this week for teachers and staff. However, Akron Schools will only receive enough vaccine for about a quarter of the staff who want it.

Hyland Software employees are still reeling a day after the Westlake-based company laid off an estimated 140 employees. Hyland termed the layoffs a "difficult decision" and said in a statement that it still plans to hire more than 300 people this year and will actually increase its overall global employee count by 15 percent. But the sudden layoffs, and the way in which they were done, has unsettled employees who had been part of a company that lists "Family" as one of its core values and says on its website: "Our employees are our family."

Updated: 4:22 p.m., Friday, Jan. 29, 2020 Law enforcement found no credible threat or weapons at Bay Village High School after a threat was phoned in to Bay Village Police early Friday afternoon, leading to a lockdown and an exhaustive sweep of the school.

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Updated: 5:36 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 About 500 Ohio schools will start vaccinating teachers and staff next week, Gov. Mike DeWine said during a Thursday press conference. To get into the vaccine queue, schools had to agree to come back at least partially in person by March 1, he said, and all but one public district in the state has signed that agreement.

Cleveland-area restaurant and bar owners say Gov. Mike DeWine’s decision to roll back the state’s curfew one hour beginning Thursday is a sign of hope after a long year for the industry. The curfew, which previously began at 10 p.m., kept customers from coming in in the evenings, said Constantine Katsaros, co-owner of the Landmark on Cleveland’s West Side, particularly during Browns games, when the restaurant would normally see a lot of traffic.