By Ohio State Sen. Nina Turner (D-25) as a guest columnist to the Plain Dealer Newspaper, Ohio's largest newspaper. A Cleveland Democrat, Turner is a former Cleveland Ward 1 councilwoman and one of two Black Ohio senators representing Cleveland constituents, among others. She represents Ohio's 25th legislative district and is contemplating a run in 2014 for Ohio Secretary of State against controversial Republican Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted. Though appointed at times, no Black Democrat has ever been elected to a statewide office in Ohio such as governor, auditor, attorney general, secretary of state or the Ohio Supreme Court.

CLEVELAND, Ohio-Elections, of course, create winners and losers. In every contest, one candidate, party or issue will come out on top. It is rare, however, that voters come as close as they did this year to getting the short end of the stick.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, Publisher, Editor-n-Chief, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper

CLEVELAND, Ohio-Three young White men that were active in the Occupy Cleveland movement who previously pleaded guilty to plotting to bomb Route 82 bridge in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in April in Sagamore Hills between Cleveland and Akron, Oh. with dummy explosives provided by an FBI informant were sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge David Dowd Jr. to prison terms below what prosecutors had requested.

Akron is a city some 35 miles south of Cleveland.

Brandon Baxter, 21, of Lakewood, Oh., was sentenced to 9 years and 9 months in prison and Connor Stephens, 21, of Berea, Oh., received an 8 year prison sentence.

Ring Leader Douglas White, 27, of Indianapolis, In., was handed a sentence of 11 and 1/2 years in prison.

Federal prosecutors had requested 19 to 30 years but Dowd, a federal district judge out of the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland, opted for lesser time.

A fourth suspect, Anthony Hayne, 35, of Cleveland, has not yet been sentenced after pleading guilty in July and agreeing to help prosecutors.

Fifth suspect Joshua Safford, 23, of Cleveland, is undergoing psychiatric analysis and his case is still pending.

The guilty pleas earlier this year from those sentenced came after former pleas of not guilty and claims by defense attorneys, including Stephens defense attorney Terry Gilbert of Cleveland, that the men were victims of a sting by federal authorities at the hands of paid FBI informant Shaquille Azir, 39, who found them housing and fed them food and drugs.

That alleged sting, defense attorneys once said, was part of a conspiracy to ruin the thriving Occupy Cleveland movement. And that they did, say community activists.

"Protests are necessary but they need to be peaceful and non-violent," said Larry Bresler, a Cleveland community activist who leads Organize Ohio and the Northeast Ohio Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. "And yes, I believe that this incident destroyed the Occupy Cleveland movement."

No protests, however, got violent in Cleveland, partly because of a Black mayor who grew up in the ghettos of Cleveland himself, and lives there now with his wife and other family members, and is skilled in dealing with community conflict, no matter how aggressive it might ultimately become.

By Cleveland Urban News.Com Sports Writer Karl Kimbrough

CLEVELAND, Ohio-The Cleveland Browns came back Sunday from a week off with a new attitude in playing against the Dallas Cowboys, a game that went into overtime, though the Browns lost 23-20.

In most of the first nine games of this season the Browns had been starting the game like first half doesn't count, being out scored going into halftime in practically every game.

But against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Cleveland had a 13 point lead at the end of the first half.

The Browns shutout Dallas in the first half,  and shut them down playing with a purpose, and with intensity not seen from them this year.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, Publisher, Editor-n-Chief, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper

WASHINGTON D.C. - Ohio Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge( D-11) (pictured), a Warrensville Hts. Democrat, was elected the 123rd chairperson of the 43-member Congressional Black Caucus on Wednesday by a unanimous vote of her peers.

The only Black congressperson from Ohio whose 11th congressional district includes the predominantly Black east side Cleveland and its eastern suburbs of Cuyahoga County and a part of Akron and staggering parts of its Summit County suburbs, Fudge said that she is honored to have been chosen.

"I am humbled by the vote of confidence of my colleagues who have selected me to serve as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus during the the 113th Congress," said Fudge, 60, a former Warrensville Hts, Oh mayor and past national  president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. "Leadership of the CBC will be shared among all officers elected and I will continue to work hard and serve with dedication the people who sent me to Congress,"

Current caucus chairman Emanuel Cleaver praised Fudge, who was among a cadre of influential Democratic officials from Ohio that help President Obama win re-election by winning Ohio, a pivotal state for presidential elections.

"Marcia Fudge is an excellent leader," said Cleaver, a Democrat who represent's Missouri's fifth congressional district. "She has served her constituents and the state of Ohio with unmatched fervor and has been an outspoken member of the CBC in supporting policies that protect the most vulnerable in our country."

Fudge said  that "as members of the Congressional Black Caucus, we call ourselves the conscience of the Congress for a reason. We are a collective voice for millions of people around the country who need us to champion their issues and protect their future."

The Congressional Black Caucus is an organization of nearly all of the Black members of Congress and is exclusive to Blacks.