Lake Erie

The North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation has released updated designs for the 50-acre site around Cleveland's Browns stadium, which is set to be demolished. The plan creates a street-grid neighborhood with zones for housing, offices, hotels, and recreation, centered on a park where the football field now sits. Features include a Lake Erie Plaza for markets and events, a waterfront promenade linking the Great Lakes Science Center and Rock Hall, and roughly 7.5 acres of public green space. A previously proposed 10,000-seat venue was dropped. A related land bridge connecting downtown to the lakefront was also updated, narrowing from 100 to 60 feet wide, with construction expected to begin in 2027.

U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, the Bowling Green Republican who has represented Ohio's 5th Congressional District since 2007 and chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee's energy subcommittee, faces Democrat Brian Shaver and Libertarian Michael Veloff in November. Ohio's 2025 GOP-led redistricting shifted several Republican-leaning counties out of Latta's district and into Marcy Kaptur's, in an effort to unseat Kaptur — a change Shaver and Veloff argue could make Latta more vulnerable, though political forecasters still rate the seat safely Republican.

Latta touts his frequent district travel, legislative record, and work on energy permitting and data center ratepayer protections. Shaver, a civics teacher and local union president, centers his campaign on affordability, accountability, and restoring congressional checks on presidential power, criticizing tariffs and unauthorized military action. Veloff, running on a Libertarian platform mixing small-government and consumer-protection ideas, hopes to draw disaffected Republican voters away from Latta. Campaign finance reports show Latta with a substantial fundraising advantage over both challengers heading into the fall election.

Cleveland City Council voted 13-1 on Sept. 14 to adopt a resolution renaming a stretch of Lake Erie along the city's shoreline the "Gulf of Cleveland," a tongue-in-cheek response to President Trump's push to rename bodies of water, including his recent declaration that Lake Ontario would be called Lake America. The resolution, sponsored by Councilman Kris Harsh, directs city departments to use the new name on official maps and documents for the portion of the lake extending two miles offshore.

Cleveland's move echoes similar, mostly unsuccessful efforts elsewhere. Mississippi lawmaker Steve Holland proposed a satirical "Gulf of America" bill in 2012, years before Trump's own Gulf of Mexico renaming directive; it died in committee. West Virginia tried unsuccessfully in 2000 to rename part of the Ohio River the "West Virginia River." Pennsylvania State Rep. David Maloney is now circulating a memo — not framed as satire — proposing "Lake Pennsylvania" for Lake Erie, citing state identity and tourism. None of these renaming efforts carry legal weight beyond local or state symbolic use.

Starting Oct. 6, Ohio law enforcement agencies must follow new statewide rules for drone surveillance under House Bill 251, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in July. The law requires a warrant when police use a drone to enter or observe the interior of a home or other place they would otherwise need a warrant to physically search. Nine exceptions allow warrantless drone use, including exigent circumstances, crime-scene documentation, crash response, public events, border enforcement near Lake Erie, and observation of what's visible to the naked eye from navigable airspace.

Agencies must also document every surveillance flight and retain related data, which is generally classified as a public record unless an exemption applies. Lethal weapons on police drones are banned outright. The ACLU of Ohio warned that some exceptions, particularly the naked-eye observation provision, could still enable broad warrantless surveillance, but lawmakers kept it in the final bill.

A separate restriction barring public agencies from acquiring drones made by designated foreign adversaries doesn't take effect until 2030. Ohio joins at least 15 other states that require warrants for police drone surveillance.

A Detroit News/WDIV-TV poll of 600 likely Michigan voters, conducted by the Glengariff Group, found 64% oppose new data center construction, with only 19% support. Opposition crossed party lines, with strong Democrats most opposed (76%) but every subgroup showing majority disapproval. A 54% majority backed a one-year moratorium, though many opponents want an outright end rather than a pause. Michigan has 70 operational data centers, with more planned.

Similar tensions are playing out elsewhere. In Ohio, the Ohio Business Roundtable launched "Future Ready Ohio" to counter what it calls misinformation about data centers' water and electricity use, while Conserve Ohio has gathered over 130,000 signatures for a ballot measure banning hyperscale facilities. In Greensboro, North Carolina, city council held its first work session under a 180-day moratorium to examine data centers' water and wastewater impacts, with more sessions planned before the pause expires in February. The issue has become politically charged in Senate races: Michigan's Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed both back construction pauses, while Ohio's Sherrod Brown has targeted Sen. Jon Husted, complicating Republican messaging as Trump continues pushing for rapid data center expansion nationally.