Haiti

Nearly 2% of all Ohioans currently have COVID-19; Cleveland’s new mayor has launched COVID-19 task force to address the surge; a federal appeals court has declined to lift a three-state ban on President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors; and more stories.

The Ohio National Guard and Ohio Department of Health will staff a free, drive-thru COVID-19 testing site starting this morning in Cleveland; Summa Health System is joining other hospitals in postponing nonessential surgeries; all of the Holmes County-based missionaries who spent two-months in captivity by a gang in Haiti are back home; and more stories.

17 members of the Ohio based Christian Aid Ministries were kidnapped by a Haitian gang in mid October.

The latest figures from the Ohio Department of Health show Cuyahoga County now has the highest coronavirus transmission rate in the state; the remaining members of a Holmes County-based missionary group who were kidnapped two months ago in Haiti have been freed; a Democrat who helped lead the effort to expel former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder after his federal indictment in a bribery scheme is running for attorney general next year; and more stories.

A religious group based in Holmes County has announced that a violent gang in Haiti has released three more hostages; two Northeast Ohio hospital systems are restricting visitations as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise; a Republican lawmaker is proposing legislation to attract and retain Ohio college students through a series of grants, scholarships and tax breaks; and more stories.

Two of 17 members of a Holmes County-based missionary group who were kidnapped more than a month ago are safe and “in good spirits” after being freed in Haiti; Ohio enters the week with COVID-19 hospitalizations rising; Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a new map of congressional districts into law; and more stories.

Ohio's COVID-19 transmission rate is up to 410 cases per 100K residents; a Black police officer has filed a discrimination charge against a Lorain County department whose chief put a note saying “Ku Klux Klan” on the officer’s jacket; the full Ohio House will vote on a Republican-backed bill that would allow teachers and staff to carry guns in school with much less training; and more stories.

After speculation that it would drop its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, The University of Akron is keeping it in place but with relaxed requirements; a Holmes County missionary group is calling for a day of prayer in support of 17 members who were abducted by a Haitian gang 12 days ago; an Akron man convicted of setting fires that killed nine of his neighbors has been sentenced to nine consecutive life terms in prison without parole; and more stories.

The National Weather Service on Thursday issued 11 tornado warnings throughout Northeast Ohio yesterday, the most during a single event since 2005; Ohio’s coronavirus case rate is at 420 case per 100,000 residents; a newly surfaced text exchange between then-FirstEnergy executives give a new peek into the favors the company got from Ohio’s top utility regulator; and more stories.

Ransom is reportedly $1M for each kidnapped missionary member; Akron City Council to target six areas for spending $145 million in pandemic relief aid; The remaining 'Devil Strip' board members have launched a GoFundMe campaign to keep it going; and more stories.