Cleveland

Fans got the full player experience on the field at FirstEnergy Stadium Thursday – complete with rain and Lake Erie winds on the first day of the NFL Draft in Cleveland. Undeterred by the weather, thousands of fans headed downtown to the NFL Draft Experience to kick field goals, run combine-style drills, snap selfies and sample some of the city’s favorite foods ahead of the 8 p.m. main event.

A new program will bring affordable high-speed internet service to residents in a digitally redlined part of Northeast Ohio. Gov. Mike DeWine announced the pilot program's launch in East Cleveland on Wednesday alongside state and local officials.

A Bail Project employee is suing the city of Cleveland and police officers over his arrest last year, saying his Downtown residency exempted him from the curfew order imposed after the May 30 demonstrations and rioting.

A group of 21 Spanish-speaking farmworkers received COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland. One of the Cleveland-area community organizations working to help increase the number of minorities getting the vaccine connected this group to the mass vaccination site.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is endorsing Nina Turner in the race to succeed Marcia Fudge in Congress, Turner’s campaign said in a news release Wednesday.

The federal government dropped charges against two Pennsylvania men they originally said traveled to Cleveland on May 30 to participate in a riot.

Members of the Asian American community in Northeast Ohio are shocked and outraged over the shootings at Atlanta-area massage parlors Tuesday night that left eight people dead, including six women of Asian descent. Atlanta Police said the suspect, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long of Woodstock, Ga., told authorities the shooting spree was not racially motivated. Police added it was too soon to know whether his actions should be considered a hate crime. The killings are just the latest in an upsurge of violence against Asian Americans in the United States.

Frank Cimino hasn’t seen his grandchildren in about a year. The Parma resident got his first COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, and he said the first thing he’s doing after he gets his second shot is giving his grandkids a big hug and a kiss. “I miss my grandbabies something fierce,” he said. “One more shot and I can spend time with my grandkids, I can spend time with my children. It’s a relief.” Family was on many minds as people exited the Wolstein Center, Cleveland’s mass vaccination site, after receiving the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Wednesday.

Restaurants and bars in Greater Cleveland are emphasizing safety ahead of Wednesday’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Not much will change for the holiday at Market Garden Brewery or its partner establishments, including Nano Brew, Bier Markt and Bar Cento, said co-owner Sam McNulty. The Ohio City restaurants have been outfitted with barriers and other social distancing measures for months, all of which will remain in place for St. Patrick's Day revelers.

Gov. Mike DeWine has announced the coronavirus vaccine will be available for anyone over the age of 16 by month's end.Speaking Tuesday at a new mass…