By Kathy Wray Coleman,  Editor-in-Chief, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper and Newspaper Blog. Tel: 216-659-0473(www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Ann R. Romans (pictured), 84, of Marietta, Georgia and a native of Cleveland, Ohio passed away on Sunday, March 30, 2014. Funeral services will be held  on Friday, April 11 at the Church of the Covenant Presbyterian Church at 11205 Euclid Ave in Cleveland with a wake at 1 pm and funeral services at 2 pm. CLICK THIS LINK HERE TO GO TO E F BOYD FUNERAL HOME ONLINE

Services are entrusted to E.F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home in Cleveland.

Mrs. Romans moved to Marietta seven years ago to be with her daughter, son-in-law, and three of her six grandchildren. She retired as a school teacher with the Cleveland Public School System. She earned a master's of education from John Carroll University in University Heights at the age of 67, and was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Mrs Romans was a member of the grassroots community activists groups G-PAC and the Carl Stokes Brigade and she loved politics and was active with the 11th Congressional District Caucus under then Congressman Louis Stokes, who has since retired, and under the late Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who succeeded Stokes. She was also a Cleveland area community activist who fought against alleged housing discrimination in Shaker Heights, Ohio and against the mistreatment of Blacks students, teachers and administrators in Cleveland schools in the 1990s. She rode a motorcycle even in recent years at the annual 11th Congressional District Caucus Annual Parade, an event initiated by Stokes and also sponsored by Tubbs Jones and current Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus of Blacks in Congress , and a Warrensville Heights Democrat whose majority Black congressional district includes the largely Black cities of Cleveland, East Cleveland and Warrensville Heights.

Pictured are Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH) and Ohio Governor John Kasich (R-OH)

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11) and Ohio Gov John Kasich have each sent letters to U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx urging the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) to grant the state of Ohio a waiver to the Department’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program for upcoming projects in the city of Cleveland. Kasich is requesting the USDOT waiver to enable the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to implement a pilot project that would increase minority business participation in projects to reflect the City of Cleveland’s demographics.

Congresswoman Fudge, whose majority Black 11th congressional district includes the city of Cleveland, indicated her strong support for the state’s request, noting in her letter that recent federally funded transportation projects have not resulted in contracts reaching all disadvantaged groups and city residents equitably.

"According to recent Census data, the population of the city of Cleveland is 53.3% African-American, 33.4% non-minority, 10% Hispanic, 1.8% Asian, and 0.3% American Indian," said Fudge in the letter."To offer an example of a recent DBE participation breakdown on a project in Cleveland, the Innerbelt Bridge phase one reflects a breakdown in participation by DBE-qualified firms."

That breakdown, says Fudge, reflects" 6% African-American, 56% non-minority women, 3% Hispanic, 5% Asian, and 29% Native American.

"It’s clear these figures reveal socioeconomic inequity," the congresswoman said.

Gov. Kasich’s letter to Sec. Foxx indicates the urgent need to subdivide DBE goals to achieve diversity in upcoming projects

“ODOT began implementing a program for the second phase of the Cleveland Innerbelt project to increase minority business participation in a meaningful, substantive and representative manner," said Kasich in his letter. "Some strategies include focused outreach, expanded training opportunities and technical assistance, mentoring programs and reimbursement for some costs associated with becoming pre-qualified to work on ODOT projects.”

CLEVELAND, Ohio-Debra Adams Simmons, the first Black female editor of The Cleveland Plain Dealer Newspaper, has been named vice president of news development for Advance Local, a parent company which owns the Plain Dealer and some 30 other newspapers nationwide. Her last day at work is April 21.

Managing Editor Thom Fladung will continue with day to day operations, newspaper officials said earlier today, while a national search is underway for a replacement editor.

Simmons became editor in 2010 and is a former editor of the Akron Beacon Journal. Her tenure with the Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest newspaper, caused it to be more sensitive to the Black community of Cleveland by focusing more on urban rather than suburban issues, though Black leaders have said that more improvement is still needed.

Simmons’ memo:

Colleagues,

Pictured are Cleveland Urban News.Com Sportswriter Karl Kimbrough and Miami Heat Forward LeBron James

By Karl Kimbrough, Cleveland Urban News.Com Sportswriter

CLEVELAND, Ohio-When asked if he heard the boos during his latest return to Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena for a bout between the Cavaliers and the Miami Heat, Miami Heat forward LeBron James, once the prince of the Cavaliers, said that “ yes its a mixture, I hear them both."

James said that "nothing can ever get as worse as the first time I came back and its just been different every time since we played here December 2, 2010.”

In this game though James had his shot going from the tip of the ball in the first quarter as he scored 25 points. Remarkably, seven of those points came in the last minute of the quarter. It appeared that he turned the “Q” arena into his own personal playground, making eight of the nine shots he took. The final score would be close, a 100 to 96 Cavalier loss. At times it seemed as though James was toying with his former team because he made it look so easy.

James said that “its just one of those zones, and its one of those great feelings."

The worst part, said James,  is that I missed four free throws.

"I was one for five from the free throw line ( in the first quarter) and I was hoping it didn't take me out of my rhythm," he said.