Cleveland's Major League Baseball team announced yesterday a deal with the city and county to extend the team's lease for another 15 years. The deal also includes the possibility of another 10-year renewal thereafter. The public-private funding deal will also renovate the aging stadium.

The $435 million deal calls for the city and county to pay $17 million annually. The State of Ohio chips in another $2 million a year and the team pays $10 million annually.

The former lease expired in 2023 and the new long-term deal coincides with the team's plan to change its name to Guardians at the end of this current season.

The finish line for the pandemic moved back again this week as cases of the coronavirus continue to rise driven largely, health experts say, by the spread of the delta variant.

Cuyahoga County as well as several counties in Northeast Ohio crossed the threshold for substantial transmission of the virus including Stark, Portage, Medina and Wayne. The Centers for Disease Control defines substantial spread as 50 or more cases per 100,000 people.

Climbing case numbers and a reverse in recommendation from the CDC on mask guidance, even for the vaccinated, means we are seeing a return of masking in public.

Voters in two Ohio congressional districts cast ballots this week to fill open seats in a special election primary.

In Northeast Ohio voters selected Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Shontel Brown as the democratic nominee to fill the seat formerly held by Marcia Fudge. Fudge is now the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Republicans voted for Laverne Gore.

There were 13 democrats in this race, but the contest centered on Brown and Nina Turner who became prohibitive front-runners as the race gained national attention.

Voters in the other primary, the Ohio 15th Congressional District in central Ohio chose political newcomer, Mike Carey as the Republican nominee. Allison Russo won the Democratic primary. The former Congressman Steve Stivers left his seat to lead the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

The eventual winners in November will seek re-election 2022. One key difference, however, for the 2022 campaigns will be that they will take place with newly drawn district boundaries. New voter approved reforms in Ohio seek. to make the process more bipartisan and lead to less gerrymandering of districts. Ohio begins the process today and it is complicate by a delay in Census data. Ohio will lose one congressional seat as a result of the 2020 Census.

Guests:
Marlene Harris-Taylor, Managing Producer for Health, Ideastream Public Media
Nick Castele, Senior Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
Andy Chow, Reporter, Statehouse News Bureau