Cleveland, OH
Will Ohio soon offer a ‘Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland’ license plate?
COLUMBUS, Ohio—A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers are again pushing one of their pet issues: getting the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles to issue a “Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland” license plate.
House Bill 586, introduced earlier this month, would allow Ohio motorists to pay an extra $25 to get one of the plates. Of that extra $25, $15 would go to the Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland, a Northeast Ohio nonprofit that traps and neuters feral cats to control their population in the area, as well as helps cat owners pay for food, water, and emergency veterinary care. The other $10 would pay for BMV costs.
Ohio already offers dozens of “specialty license plates,” with logos representing sports franchises, nonprofit organizations, the military, colleges and universities, and others.
Though the Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland has an offbeat name, the work they do to help cats in Northeast Ohio is no joke, said state Rep. Phil Robinson, a Solon Democrat co-sponsoring the bill, in an interview.
Robinson first introduced a license plate bill to help the group last session, after one of his constituents – one of the group’s nearly 19,000 members – approached him with the idea.
“It seemed like a great cause, and they do some really great work,” he said.
It’s not yet clear how much money would be raised for the cat lovers group if his license plate bill passes, though Robinson said it could be a fair amount of scratch. Ohio law requires that before a new organizational license plate is issued, at least 150 people have to sign a petition pledging to purchase one of the new plates; issuing 150 plates would provide a total of $2,250 for the Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland.
“They believe it’s something that could catch on pretty quickly, and every dollar would go to a great cause to help those in need,” Robinson said of the group’s leaders.
Robinson first introduced the Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland license plate bill in 2021, but it failed to pass. This time around, he said, he’s more optimistic the measure will be approved – if not as a standalone bill, then as one of a number of proposed license-plate ideas that are bunched together in a single bill and passed as a group, as lawmakers did with several other proposed license plates toward the end of last session.
Besides Robinson, HB586′s co-sponsors include Republican state Rep. Jim Hoops of Henry County and Democratic state Reps. Sean Brennan of Parma, Darnell Brewer of Cleveland, and Michele Grim of Toledo.
Jeremy Pelzer covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
Cleveland, OH
Near No-No in Cleveland Highlights Longest Drought in MLB History
Parker Messick came so close. With three outs remaining in the game, the young southpaw had no-hit the Baltimore Orioles through eight innings. He also had only given up two free passes by walking Taylor Ward in the first and Leody Taveras in the sixth. Taveras eventually broke up the no-hit bid on the first pitch of the ninth.
Messick has dazzled for the Guardians so far this year. Until Thursday night, he had only allowed one run. That came in a solo shot allowed against the Chicago Cubs on April 5. Going into Thursday, he held a ridiculously low 0.51 ERA. He ended the no-no bid by giving up two runs in the ninth, raising his ERA to a 1.05 mark.
That number is still crazy low. Messick has been a co-ace alongside Gavin Williams for this Cleveland squad that continues to defy expectations. But Messick’s near no-no reminds MLB fans of something else.
Where Have All the No-Hitters Gone?
It feels like the no-hitter has ceased to exist, in part because it has. The last no-hitter came on a combined effort from Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge of the Cubs. That game came on September 4 of the 2024 season. The last no-hitter pitched solo was for the San Francisco Giants with Blake Snell’s on August 2 of the same year.
There were four no-hitters in the 2024 season. Since then there have been a grand total of zero. And that’s not for lack of effort.
By far, the closest came in Los Angeles Dodgers‘ ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 8 2/3 no-hitter against Baltimore last year. In what is arguably the greatest comeback ever, Orioles’ second baseman Jackson Holliday hit a ninth-inning, two-out home run to break it up before the O’s, down to their last out, managed to walk it off against the defending World Series champs.
There’s plenty of pitchers who could throw the next one. But no-hitters are fickle. They often come when you least expect it, and not always from who you’d expect. Take Snell. Many questioned his ability to go deeper than six innings because of his seeming inability to limit walks. But he managed to accomplish it on only 114 pitches.
Only time will tell if someone can get it done this season. Until then, the historic no-hitter drought marches on.
Cleveland, OH
Cleveland man called ‘King Dinero’ sentenced for trafficking and raping 4 women
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Darren Lassiter of Cleveland, also referred to as “King Dinero,” was sentenced to life in prison Thursday morning.
Lassiter, previously featured on Cuyahoga’s Most Wanted was found guilty of 13 charges last month, including trafficking, rape and prostitution.
In a press release provided by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Lassiter is described as having “targeted and controlled four victims through physical and sexual violence.”
He is eligible for parole after 43 1/2 to 49 1/2 years have been served.
Yost conducted the investigation alongside the Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force and Cuyahoga County Michael O’Malley, with assistance from the HEAL Human Trafficking Task Force.
“[Lassiter] capitalized on human suffering, robbing vulnerable women of dignity and self-worth,” Yost wrote in the release.
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
Cleveland, OH
AMA Supercross 2026 | April 18, 2026 | Greater Cleveland Sports Commission
The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship is making its long-awaited return to Cleveland for the first time in three decades. On Saturday, April 18, 2026, the world’s top two-wheel racers will converge at Huntington Bank Field for one of the 17 stops on the…
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