As the Cleveland Browns and the City of Cleveland continue to work on Plan A – which is the renovation of the team’s lakefront home – the team is eyeing a Plan B. (Though some might argue it’s more of a Plan A-minus.) That is building a new stadium somewhere else, including on land in our border city of Brook Park, near the airport.

Any talk of Brook Park should remind us of the contentious history between the two cities around Cleveland Hopkins International Airport expansion plans. That backstory included Brook Park residents in 2001 approving annexing NASA Glenn as part of a complicated deal to add a runway that was never built.

So, with speculation in the air that Cleveland and Brook Park might again meet to talk about swapping a few parcels to help a stadium deal happen, Signal Cleveland put the question to Cleveland City Hall. Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration told us annexation “is not currently a part of our negotiation.”

Still waiting for judicial local appointment

For those watching the U.S. District Court in Northern Ohio, we are marking the calendar for you – it has been six months since U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan took senior status, which means semi-retirement. Doing so allows the Biden administration to fill her seat. It’s a process that starts locally, with a recommendation from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.

He convened a committee to review and recommend potential replacements. He also settled on local U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lutzko to become the permanent replacement for U.S. Attorney. Her confirmation – and those of others – is being blocked by Ohio’s other senator, J.D. Vance. He has argued he’s doing so out of protest over the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into former president Donald Trump.

Signal Cleveland asked Brown’s office what the senior senator is doing to move this confirmation along. His office referred Signal Cleveland to a press release about the nomination process.

Cleveland’s new police chief not alone

Mayor Justin Bibb this week swore in Dorothy Todd as Cleveland’s new chief of police. She replaces Wayne Drummond, whom Bibb promoted to interim safety director after Karrie Howard’s resignation.

With Todd’s appointment, women now lead the police departments of all of Ohio’s “three C” cities. Elaine Bryant, a veteran of the Detroit police force, became Columbus’ police chief in 2021. Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa A. Theetge assumed her job in 2022.

Cleveland’s police force is largely male. According to the city’s latest annual public safety report, about 17% of the city’s officers are women.

This post was updated to clarify that Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lutzko is waiting to be approved by the full Senate as the permanent Northeast Ohio’s U.S. Attorney.