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Just about every Clevelander has been to the I-X Center, whether for the jingle-famous indoor amusement park or a mammoth trade show.

A former tank plant that opened as an event space in 1985, the building has looked dated for years. But by the time the I-X Center opens for the Christmas Connection in November, it will feature new paint, carpets and an upgraded parking lot on its east side.

Looking forward to a new chapter after the pandemic nearly shut down the landmark forever.

- Laura

Overnight Scores and Weather

Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Rays: Guardians beat Rays and the rain, 2-1, on Amed Rosario’s single in the 10th inning

Northeast Ohio Thursday weather forecast: Temperatures slowly climb

Top Stories

I-X Center: Contractors are working six days a week building two huge walls in the International Exposition Center, which will create a new 530,000-square-foot event space and section off even more space to lease. Sean McDonnell reports that with 1 million square feet of space on the main floor alone, and ceilings higher than 60 feet in some spaces, dividing the building into separate areas is a mammoth undertaking.

Randazzo: A state appeals court Tuesday overturned a Franklin County judge’s order allowing the Ohio attorney general’s office to seize up to $8 million in assets from Sam Randazzo, reports Jeremy Pelzer. The former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, whom FirstEnergy admitted last year to paying $4.3 million in bribes, was accused of selling four properties worth $4.8 million and transferring another $500,000 house in Columbus to his son in order to prevent them from being potentially seized.

Today in Ohio: The Buckeye Institute challenged Ohio’s pandemic municipal tax rules to permit taxing people where they were neither working nor living. And now it’s won a case against Cleveland. We’re talking about what this means for Ohioans who paid taxes in their office cities while working at home during the pandemic on Today in Ohio, Cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast.

Statehouse and Politics

Miller vs. Diemer: Congressional candidates Max Miller and Matthew Diemer are about to find out whether ex-President Donald Trump’s blessing has become a curse among general election voters in Northeast Ohio, reports Sabrina Eaton. Republican Miller hopes Trump’s backing is still an asset as he tries to court voters in western and southern Cuyahoga County, Medina and Wayne counties, and northern Holmes County over Diemer, a Bay Village podcaster who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Northeast Ohio News

Cleveland’s Promise: Cleveland Metropolitan School District aims to teach students conflict resolution through its Winning Against Violent Environments (WAVE) program, aimed at providing non-violent problem-solving skills. Ms. Latonya Coats, Almira’s social emotional learning coordinator, is like a quarterback leading her team down the field as she counsels two students who have bickered with each other throughout the school year, writes Cameron Fields as part of the Cleveland’s Promise series.

Workers’ pay: Cuyahoga County social workers will now be among the highest paid in the state, making good on one of Executive Armond Budish’s promises to increase wages to help fix problems at the Division of Children and Family Services office. The county will now be offering entry-level social workers $26 per hour, up from the current $20.73, following a bargaining agreement change that county council unanimously approved on Wednesday, Kaitlin Durbin reports.

Police discipline: Cleveland police Commander Michael Butler faces a slew of accusations involving his work for private security companies, including that he hid from city officials his work for the businesses during a time he led the city’s efforts at staffing both officers and security firms for major events, Adam Ferrise reports.

Food violations: More than 600 of Lake County’s 752 restaurants and food retail shops had food inspection violations during the 2021-22 inspection year ending Feb. 28, according to state records. Zachary Smith has a list of 23 with the most citations.

Shotspotter: Cleveland city officials want to quadruple the size of the controversial Shotspotter gunshot detection tool in an effort to reduce crime. Lucas Daprile reports that if approved, the project would cost $2.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds and would expand the range of ShotSpotter from three square miles in District 4 to 13 square miles in “neighborhoods that have experienced a disproportionate rate of gun violence.”

Leave your leaves: One easy trick to fertilize your lawn for free, reduce your carbon footprint, and give you back hours of time to enjoy fall afternoons: Stop raking your leaves. Susan Brownstein writes that she has experimented with many raking-avoidance methods and her favorite is using a mulching mower.

Business and Healthcare

Dublin flights: Irish carrier Aer Lingus will launch nonstop service between Cleveland and Dublin on May 19, flying the route four times per week year-round. Susan Glaser reports the new service was announced at a celebratory event at the airport Wednesday that featured bagpipes, Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, former U.S. ambassador to Ireland Edward Crawford and numerous other political and business leaders.

Marijuana summit: The Ohio Cannabis Health & Business Summit at the I-X Center this weekend will bring together vendors and industry professionals, as well as experts that can talk to people about cannabis and their health. Sean McDonnell reports that more than 60 speakers have been lined up, including insurance agents, instructors, cultivators, lawyers, lawmakers, professors and even Ohio’s first official medical marijuana patient.

Pediatrics clinic: University Hospitals will expand its specialty care for children in Lake County with a new pediatric clinic opening Monday. Gretchen Cuda Kroen reports the UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Multispecialty Clinic at UH Perrico Health Center in Willoughby will offer pediatric services in pulmonology, otolaryngology, plastic surgery, urology and neurosurgery, as well as general surgery, sports medicine, orthopedics, endocrinology, gastroenterology, cardiology, nephrology and neurology.

COVID and diabetes: A Case Western Reserve University analysis of the electronic medical records of over 1 million children worldwide suggests that COVID-19 infection may make children more susceptible to developing type 1 diabetes, reports Gretchen Cuda Kroen. The study found that there was a 72% increase in the number of type 1 diabetes diagnoses of people under age 18 in the six months following a confirmed case of COVID-19.

Crime and Courts

Q Money murder: Rapper Q Money has been found guilty of murder for the 2019 fatal shooting of another Cleveland artist in Decatur, Georgia, reports Olivia Mitchell. Qamar Akee Williams, 26, of Avon, fatally shot Calvin “Scotty” Chappell, 24, of Euclid, on Sept. 15, 2019.

Armond Johnson Sr.: Jurors who will recommend whether convicted killer Armond Johnson Sr. will die by execution or live his life in prison heard testimony Wednesday that Johnson’s family has been plagued by violence. Cory Shaffer reports Johnson and his defense attorneys, Jim McDonnell and Tom Shaughnessy, hope the testimony will be enough to sway jurors away from recommending Johnson face the death penalty for the July 9, 2019, slayings of Takeyra Collins, 25; Armond Johnson Jr., 6; Aubree Stone, 2; and David Cousin, 35.

Officer charges: Federal prosecutors dropped charges against a Cleveland police officer in connection with a credit-card fraud scheme, but county prosecutors have charged him with falsifying titles to several cars. Adam Ferrise reports that prosecutors never had evidence that Rorell Dickerson knew he was committing a crime when he accompanied another man to buy off-road vehicles with stolen credit-card information.

Arts and Entertainment

Haunted Houses: Want to get scared? Paris Wolfe has 23 haunted attractions -- some extreme, some family-friendly -- to get you in the Halloween mood. Some offer onsite concessions; most offer group discounts and fast pass options.

Hot streak: The Guardians are heading into the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in baseball, winning nearly 70% of their games so far this month, reports Zachary Smith. But does such success in September traditionally continue into the playoffs? Over the past decade, none of the 10 highest-performing September teams won the World Series.

Cavs broadcasts: Bally Sports Ohio viewers will notice a few changes to Cavaliers broadcasts this season. Joey Morona reports Cayleigh Griffin returns as the new host of “Cavaliers Live,” joined by the show’s longtime co-host, former Cavaliers player Campy Russell.

LeBron pickleball: LeBron James and Kevin Love are owners of a new Major League Pickleball team. Joey Morona reports the former and current Cavaliers stars are part of an ownership group that also includes Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and more.

You’re all caught up

Thanks for joining us this week in our redesigned Wake Up format. We appreciate the feedback you provided about our new look. Don’t forget, you can always find the latest Cleveland news by visiting cleveland.com. If you value the hard work of Cleveland journalists, consider becoming an cleveland.com subscriber.

— Curated by Laura Johnston with contributions by Cliff Pinckard

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